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The Revolution of 1926
The Revolution of 1926 occurred in the Aztec Empire in May, led by the Aztec Communist Party. The outcome was successful and effectively changed the Aztec Empire from a capitalist autocracy dependent upon European capital to a socialist republic, only the second in the world at the time after the U.S.S.R. Background By the year 1900, the Aztec Empire was a thriving economic powerhouse with seemingly unlimited economic potential. Capitalism was alive and had come of age, which enriched the coffers of the Aztec elite. While some native Aztecs were becoming millionaires and industrial moguls, an increasingly larger number of foreign entrepreneurs had begun owning more of the Aztec Empire’s abundant natural resources. Most of these foreign business people were from Western Europe, most notably Great Britain and France. This investment had the initial effect of strengthening infrastructure, scientific research, and bringing valuable capital into the country. The positive effects of rapidly growing system of global capitalism in the Aztec Empire, however, could not have come about without the widespread disfranchisement and depression of living standards of the working class. From the previous century to the early 1900’s, wages increased and then decreased dramatically. Coupled with an increase in the working day, a labor movement made up of an exhausted working class and their sympathizers in the intelligentsia began to coalesce. The Marxist Social Democratic Party of the Aztec Empire helped to organize and lead this early working class movement. Membership in the S.D.P.A.E. swelled in this time period and by 1904 became the only third party challenger to the reigning Liberal and Conservative parties. The wealthiest sections of society and foreign-born millionaires living in the Aztec Empire found their political spokesmen in the Conservative Party, which pushed legislation giving entrepreneurs more property rights, which in many cases violated contracts between traditional communal farmers and the government. Furthermore, the Conservatives passed bills lengthening the workday and depressed wages. These developments alienated the Conservative Party from the majority of Aztec society, whom were working class families and farmers. Despite this fact, Conservatives won a majority both in the Royal Council and the position of Huei Tlatoani with the election of Xipilli Zolin in 1910. The Liberal Party was largely ineffectual in stopping anything the Conservatives did and many of their most left-leaning members defected to the Social Democrats. Again, Membership in the S.D.P.A.E. swelled after the passing of the Zolin Act of 1911, which all but denied the right to collective bargaining and unionization. Although Conservative Party membership declined and their policies wildly unpopular, their majority in the Royal Council held strong as they commanded millions of Quatchtlis in donations from their bourgeois supporters. As strikes began popping up around the Empire, so did union busting. At this time, it was common for factories and mines to be policed by armed mercenaries or criminals. Many workers were paid in store vouchers (also known as scrip) as opposed to real, hard currency. Despite having the grip of the Aztec government in their hands, the Conservatives had to deal with a growing Social Democratic Party, which challenged them in many elections. In 1916, The Confederate States of America invaded the Aztec Empire. For a brief period of time, the social unrest boiling within the Empire cooled as many workingmen went to the front to defend their country. The forced entry of the Aztec Empire on the side of the Triple Entente came as unseen aid to the Conservatives as the Social Democrats lost many active members to the fighting. The tide of the war turned and the Aztec Army launched their own assault into the CSA, culminating in the surrender of the Confederate Army in 1917. It was soon discovered the German government had secretly bribed the Confederates into attacking the Empire with financial and military support in order to prevent the Aztecs from getting involved with the fighting in Europe. As a result, Aztec troops were sent overseas to Europe to fight against the Triple Alliance. The end of World War I came the following year in 1918. ' ' Formation of the Communist Party Hundreds of thousands of veterans were returning home with no job prospects. Employers began replacing former workers with machines, only adding to the growing problem of unemployment. As a result, the ranks of the Social Democratic Party would spike again, this time with many radicalized workers and veterans inspired by the victory of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Vladimir Lenin’s teachings were widely studied and eventually accepted as a guideline to revolution in the Aztec Empire. One of the most outspoken Leninists was a self-educated factory worker named Tlexictli Ueman, who would eventually be named General Secretary of the Party. Ueman would be joined by other intellectuals such as Dr. Moyolehuani Namacuix, a University of Tenochtitlan physics professor and World War I Jaguar Infantry Marine veteran Yolyamanitzin Tlanextli. Tlanextli was a great asset to the Social Democrats, as he was radicalized before the war while studying at the University of Tenochtitlan. He was an outspoken orator and charismatic individual, leading him to make many like-minded friends in power among the ranks of the Aztec Marines. While serving, he formed the clandestine Communist Officer Society. The C.O.S. was made up of high-ranking officers from the Aztec armed forces, beginning at first with the Marines and eventually spanning across each branch of the military. This organization became very powerful within the Aztec military; even boasting the membership of Grand Jaguar Achcauhtli Chimalli. The membership of Tlanextli essentially guaranteed the support of the military. Dr. Namacuix and Tlanextli would eventually be voted into the Politburo as Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of Relations, respectively. In 1919, the Social Democrats restructured themselves as the 'Communist Party of the Aztec Empire. ' The Communists had begun holding rallies in different city zocalos, universities, outside of mines and factories, strikes, military barracks, and protest events. They also sent agitators out into the countryside to win the hearts and minds of the rural peasantry. Their popularity only grew after the restructuring of the Party. The Conservatives became increasingly out of touch with the majority of Aztec people; it seemed foreign and unabashedly Western. Aiding in this elitist image was Prime Minister Zolin and his shame in his own skin, which like all Aztecs, was dark brown. He would apply rice powder to his face to make himself look European. The Conservative government’s selling of national assets to European bourgeois also alienated them from the rest of the nation. The Communist Party was able to capitalize on this and included patriotism and national liberation as one of the underlying themes to their platform.